Module 1 RESEARCH IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Chapter 2 Types of Research

Intended Learning Outcomes: At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to:

1. Identify the types of Research

2. Determine the features of the types of research

3. Provide examples of the different types of research

2.1 Types of Research

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Meaning:
Any research where conclusions of the study is strictly drawn from concretely
empirical evidence and therefore verifiable evidence
Features:
“I will not believe it unless I see it’
Data is collected through observation or experience by using calibrated scientific
instruments
Example:
The Effects of Interleaving versus Blocking of Learning to Conjugate verbs in the
Spanish Language (by Jon Student, psychology 199, University of California

THEORETICAL RESEARCH

Meaning:
A research where proofs and theorems generated. A logical exploration of a
system of beliefs and assumptions. It includes theorizing or defining how a cyber
system and its environment behave and then exploring or playing out the
implications of how it is defined.
Features:
* directly observe the research objectives
* define and outline conceptual models, explanations and structures of the
chosen topic with the help of research literature.
Example:
A Theoretical research on the extraction of cacao powder as an alternative to
energy generation in Benguet province, Philippines (Jirah Montejo, University of
Baguio, 2015)
 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Meaning:
is a scientific method of observation to gather non-numerical data,while
focusing on meaning-making. This often occurs through "case study, personal
experience, introspection, life story, interview, artifacts, and cultural texts and
productions, along with observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts.
Features:
* emphasize on points of view of expressions and language, and your research
object´s surroundings, backgrounds, aims and meanings.
* use this strategy to complement each other in one research project or to act
as separate analyses of a single research topic
Example:
A qualitative study of the perceptions of first year college students regarding
technology and college readiness (by Trenton Anthony Grundmeyer, Iowa state
University

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Meaning:
A systematic investigation of phenomena by gathering quantifiable data and
performing statistical, mathematical or computational techniques.
Features:
*Uses sampling methods and sending out online surveys
*Used quantifiables like numbers and populations
Example:
A quantitative study of the Impact of Social Media Reviews on Brand Perception
(by Netha Joshi, University of New York)

MULTI-METHOD RESEARCH

Meaning:
Entails the application of two or more sources of data or research methods to
the investigation of a research question or to different but highly linked research
questions.
Features:
*Analyse topic with several different methods of analysis of the same generic
*Increase the possibilities of getting valid and extensive results
Example:
Building the House: Example of Multi Method Research in Communication (by
LeBlanc H. Paul III, San Diego California)

The course guides the students in going through the basic research processes. It will
equip the students with research skills to solve relevant problems/ issues social
sciences or in teaching and learning social studies. Page 3 of 8
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 CASE STUDY RESEARCH

Meaning:
It is a method used to investigate a problem within its real- life context through
existing cases.
Features:
Used to find more information through carefully analyzing existing cases.
Often used for business research or to gather empirical evidence
for investigation purpose.
Example:
The Research on the case Learning Activity Sustained by a Web- based Case
Assisted Study Environment (by Xinyu Zhang and Li Zheng)

CROSS-SECTIONAL RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables you to explore a research phenomenon
thoroughly in different areas of culture and society at a certain point in time.
Cross-sectional study also enables you to choose your research point of view
flexibly.
Features:
*Set of people are chosen in a fashion which depicts similarity in all the variables
except the one which is being researched.
*An observational type of method in which a set of audience is observed at a
given time
Example:
A Cross-Sectional Study of Awareness of Physical Activity: Associations with
Personal, Behavioral, and Psychological Factors (by Esther MF van Sluijs, Simon J.
Griffin and Mireille NM van Poppel)

LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables you to explore and explain change and
development over a long period of time
Features:
*Used to understand the traits and behavior of a subject under observation after
repeatedly testing the subject over a period of time
*Both qualitative and quantitative by nature
Example:
An Analysis of Methodological Differences in Longitudinal Studies of Infant
Manual Preference (by Sabrina Lynn Thurman, University of Tennesse)

The course guides the students in going through the basic research processes. It will
equip the students with research skills to solve relevant problems/ issues social
sciences or in teaching and learning social studies. Page 4 of 8
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 SURVEY RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables you to collect data via questionnaires or
interviews, from a large number of respondents (who answer questionnaires) or
interviewees (who you interview)
Features:
*Involves large audience to collect large amount of data.
*Most commonly used methods for all kinds of research
Example:
A Descriptive Survey research study of the Student Characteristics Influencing
the Four Theoretical Sources of Mathematical Self-Efficacy of College Sources of
College Freshmen (by Tonja Motley Locklear, University of Kentucky)

ACTION RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables you to influence the functions and environment
of the researched phenomenon in a community by improving and developing
the community’s problem solving abilities
Features:
* actively participate in the practices of the community in the context of the
research phenomenon
* starting point of your strategy is practical action, which through the use of
scientifically recorded observations will provide your data
Example:
Action Research within Organizations and University Thesis Writing (by Ortrun
Zuber Skerritt and Chad Perry, University of Southern Cross, Australia)

CRITICAL RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables you to question and be critical of those
processes and structures, in which the researched phenomenon exists and
occurs.
Features:
* followed the current critical and emancipative points of view of each society
and culture
* focus on the primary structures of the phenomenon and the meanings
originating from these structures.
Example:
Political Dynasty: A Critical View ( by Zhung Feng, Guanzhou University)

The course guides the students in going through the basic research processes. It will
equip the students with research skills to solve relevant problems/ issues social
sciences or in teaching and learning social studies. Page 5 of 8
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 DISCURSIVE APPROACHES

Meaning:
A type of research that enables you to explore the construction of meanings in
human interaction. The starting point in your research is that the researched
phenomenon may have different meanings for people in diverse situations.
Features:
* established ways of constructing the meanings of phenomena, knowledge and
reality, and the networks linking them
* The basis of the approach is the emphasis of the construction of knowledge
and reality through language and other semiotic systems
Example:
The Discursive Construction of Identities: A Critical Analysis of Representation of
Social Actors in Conflict (by Maria Labarta and Rosanna Dolon, University of
Spain)

PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Meaning:
is an approach to qualitative research that focuses on the commonality of a lived
experience within a particular group
Features:
* the researcher may construct the universal meaning of the event, situation or
experience and arrive at a more profound understanding of the phenomenon
Example:
A Phenomenological Study into How Students Experience and Understand the
University Presidency (by Kahler B. Schuemann, University of Michigan)

NARRATIVE RESEARCH

Meaning:
is a term that subsumes a group of approaches that in turn rely on the written or
spoken words or visual representation of individuals
Features:
* typically focus on the lives of individuals as told through their own stories
* a story told and retold; a report on real or fictitious events; the report of a
series of events in a sequence
Example:
Leadership Journeys: A Narrative Research Study Exploring Women School
Superintendents Meaning-Making Of Leadership Development Experiences (by
Malisa Komolthiti, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts)

The course guides the students in going through the basic research processes. It will
equip the students with research skills to solve relevant problems/ issues social
sciences or in teaching and learning social studies. Page 6 of 8
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 HERMENEUTIC RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that emphasizes subjective interpretations in the research of
meanings of texts, art, culture, social phenomena and thinking
Features:
* use a variety of approaches and methods of analysis, as well as discipline-
specific methods, to interpret phenomena but you need to bear in mind that
hermeneutic research is a qualitative research strategy.
* enables you to make interpretations and gain an in-depth understanding of
the researched phenomenon
Example:
A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experience of Adult Female
Sexual Assault Survivors (by Ann N. Hellman, East Tennessee State University)

ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables you to describe and explain, as well as form
interpretations and views, of human action within the context of social
environments
Features:
* make observations from multiple standpoints of an ethnic community and its
environment
* make the observations within the ethnic environment and in concrete
interactions with the community
Example:
The Everyday Lives of Men: An Ethnographic Investigation of Young Adult Male
Identity (by Peter Gill, Victoria University)

HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables you to explore and explain the meanings, phases
and characteristics of a phenomenon or process at a particular point of time in
the past. We differentiate historical research as a research strategy from the
research of history, which refers to research in the discipline of history.
Features:
* aim to identify appearances of your chosen phenomenon in a temporally
defined situation and environment
* The focus of this research is time
Example:
The Many Faces of Generalisimo Fransisco Franco:His Legacy Remembered (by
Erinn Heubner, Grand Valley State University)

The course guides the students in going through the basic research processes. It will
equip the students with research skills to solve relevant problems/ issues social
sciences or in teaching and learning social studies. Page 7 of 8
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 COMPARATIVE RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables to identify and explore the similarities and
differences between chosen phenomena or groups
Features:
*Mainly used to find out cause and effect relationship between two variables or
even multiple variables.
* This method is based on comparison.
Example:
A Comparative Study of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Factors Relationship to
Academic Success for Foreign master’s Students (by Lisa A. Stephenson

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Meaning:
A type of research that enables to explore the influence and interaction of
phenomena in a controlled environment or situation you have created for the
research
Features:
*Check cause and effect;
*Tested to see what happens to independent variable if the other one is
removed or altered
Example:
An Experimental Study on the Effectiveness of Multimedia in College English
Teaching (by Jing Liu, School of Foreign Language, Qingdao University of Science
and Technology)

The course guides the students in going through the basic research processes. It will
equip the students with research skills to solve relevant problems/ issues social
sciences or in teaching and learning social studies. Page 8 of 8
Chapter 2

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